Raising Hell: British Horror Cinema in the 1980s and 1990s

在2000年代中期重新推出之前，英国最具标志性的恐怖电影制作人Hammer Films于1979年停止了故事片制作。对于一些人来说，这敲响了国内恐怖制作的丧钟，在21世纪初该类型的“重生”之前，如28天后（2002年）的主流热门作品。虽然很少有人承认，但在这20年里，许多国内恐怖作品成为现实，获得了不同程度的成功和国际曝光，尽管很少在电影院上映。事实上，英国恐怖的存在在新生的录像带市场中感受最深。这个项目名为“Raising Hell：British Horror Film in the 1980 s and 1990 s”，旨在探讨1980年代和1990年代的英国恐怖电影作品对英国当代电影文化和社会的启示。它试图填补关于商业电影制作的主流学术和流行叙事的空白，并认为该类型对该时期的重要性被低估了。该项目认为，英国电影的过去历史过于想当然地认为，在20世纪80年代和90年代，英国恐怖电影在电影院中的非/边缘存在，通过将英国恐怖片置于工业和社会文化背景下，该项目旨在确定恐怖电影制作的主要参与者，他们可以利用的资源，他们如何应对电影审查增加和与视频有关的新立法的动荡气氛，以及他们的电影在多大程度上参与社会。它将表明，在审查期间，“英国恐怖”是一个跨越各种预算和发行轨迹的广泛教堂，从主流的赚钱作品（如《闪灵》和《追凶者》）到业余作品（如《地狱的邀请》和《恶业》）。对20世纪80年代和90年代国内恐怖电影制作进行更细致的研究，将有助于更好地了解英国流行电影的历史，以及这一时期对现在的持久影响。

Before its re-launch in the mid-2000s, Britain's most iconic producer of horror movies, Hammer Films, ceased feature film production in 1979. For some, this sounded the death knell for domestic horror production, prior to the genre's "rebirth" in the early 2000s with mainstream hits such as 28 Days Later (2002). While little-acknowledged, the intervening two decades saw numerous domestic horror productions materialise, enjoying varying levels of success and international exposure, albeit rarely in cinemas. Indeed, British horror's presence was most felt in the nascent video cassette market. This project, "Raising Hell: British Horror Film in the 1980s and 1990s", aims to explore what British horror film production of the 1980s and 1990s reveals about contemporaneous film culture and society in Britain. It seeks to plug gaps in dominant scholarly and popular narratives regarding commercial filmmaking, and argue that the significance of the genre to the period in question has been understated. The project argues that past histories of British film take too much for granted regarding British horror's non-/marginal presence in cinemas during the 1980s and 1990s and that judgments as to the quality (or lack thereof) of the films produced typically precludes meaningful analysis.By locating British horror films within an industrial and socio-cultural context, the project seeks to identify the key players in horror film production, the resources that were available to them, how they navigated the tumultuous climate of increased film censorship and new legislation pertaining to video, and the extent to which their films are socially engaged. It will show that "British horror" during the period under scrutiny was a broad church straddling various budgets and distribution trajectories, from mainstream money-spinners (e.g. The Shining and Hellraiser) to amateur works (e.g. Invitation to Hell and Bad Karma). A more nuanced examination of domestic horror film production during the 1980s and 1990s will enable a greater understanding of the history of popular British cinema, and the lasting impact of this period on the present.